African aid money was spent on luxury hotels

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London: The British Government has been accused of wasting a
small fortune in foreign aid on luxury hotels and meals for
consultants, even flying pens and paper from Washington to
Africa.

A BBC investigation aired on Sunday claimed that out of £3
million ($7.1 million) earmarked for one project in Malawi, more
than £700,000 was spent on accommodation and meals for a US
agency, the National Democratic Institute.

In total, £586,423 was spent on hotel rooms for agency
workers and £126,062 went on meals.

The £3 million, donated by the Department for International
Development, was for a project to improve the parliamentary
committee system in Malawi, said to be the 10th poorest country in
the world.

Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for International
Development, said: "There clearly have been some problems with the
projects and where there are lessons to be learnt I'm very
determined that we do that."

On another project, World Learning, the BBC claimed that
computers, notebooks and other stationery had been bought in
Washington and flown over rather than bought locally.

The charity Action Aid said it was "another example of aid money
not really getting down to the people who most urgently need to
benefit from it".

Rafiq Hajat, a Malawian campaigner, told the BBC: "Where you
have so-called experts who come from outside, charge exorbitant
fees, live a five-star lifestyle and then go back having left a
couple of reports mouldering on the shelf, that's how I would
define phantom aid."